The present invention relates to containers, and more particularly to portable containers adapted to attach to an animal pet leash for the purpose of carrying animal waste while the owner is walking the pet.
A number of systems have been devised heretofore for the purpose of permitting the pet owner to pick up and dispose of animal waste of their pets. This is especially apropos when an owner is walking and airing their pet. It has especially become desirable and in many instances, required by appropriate municipalities, that an owner be responsible for picking up animal waste caused by the owner""s pet.
In connection with the above, various prior art patents show different systems for collecting animal waste. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,636, shows a disposable pet excrement collection device which is basically a flat collection device which can be pressed into a rigid collection funnel shape in order to scoop up the animal waste. This as well as other devices such as plastic gloves, paper bags, plastic bags, shovels and scoopers have been developed for the purpose of retrieving animal waste in order to remove it from public byways.
One of the difficulties and problems that has occurred repeatedly regardless of which type of collection system is employed is the fact that once the animal waste has been collected, the pet owner is required to carry the animal waste until the owner reaches a suitable dumpster or waste container where the waste may be disposed of properly.
In order to address that problem, a collection system and method of transportation has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,616. The device disclosed in the aforementioned patent is designed as a pouch which the patent teaches can be carried on the belt of the pet owner permitting the pet owner to therefore collect the waste and deposit the same in the pouch to carry the same. This, however, has many drawbacks associated with the device, in that it is required that the owner carry the waste, and due to the nature of the container or pouch, all of the undesirable aspects of animal fecal matter are exposed.
A variety of collection devices have been proposed by the prior art, including that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,629 which basically relates to a plastic bag type device with two pouches for the operator""s two hands, and scoops attached to the plastic pouch which allegedly permit the owner to collect the waste, and then flip the bag inside out in order to contain the same. The drawback with that device is that the pet owner must still carry the enclosed bag to an appropriate dumpster or waste container, wherever that may be located. Similar comments are applicable with respect to the device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,978 in that while it is a device intended to retrieve animal waste, the owner must still carry the device containing the animal waste until an appropriate waste container is located.
In terms of devices that attach to the leash, the only prior art which addresses that issue is U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,590 which discloses a pouch intended to be stitched to a leash just below the handle thereof, however, the pouch is simply intended to carry a plurality of plastic bags to be used by the owner in order to retrieve the animal waste. It is clear that the bag stitched to the lease is not intended to transport the animal waste once the same is collected, and indeed, the patent teaches that the pouch stitched to the animal leash is intended to carry a number of bags in order afford the owner easy access to a retrieval bag for retrieving and collecting the waste. However, it is clear that once collected, the pouch is not intended to transport the waste. Furthermore, the other drawback associated with the device shown in the +590 patent is the fact that once the pouch is stitched to the leash, it is a relatively permanent installation. Furthermore, the pouch is not removable from the leash and cannot be used on any leash. Hence, the device will be totally unworkable with a chain leash or a leather leash which does not lend itself to an easy stitching operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,809 shows a device for attaching a bag to the dog collar to make it accessible to the pet owner. However, there is no teaching of any transportation system once the waste has been collected.
The balance of the prior art dealing with animal waste collection systems basically deals with devices intended to pick up and/or collect the waste. This would include the scoopers and shovel type devices as well as bag like receptacles having cardboard or rigid material scoopers associated therewith as depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,767,247.
None of the prior art, however, has addressed the issue of providing a system for transporting the animal waste once the same is collected without the requirement that the owner hand carry the waste in the device utilized to collect the waste.
The present invention is directed to a portable transporting device which is easily and readily attachable to any pet animal leash, which therefore permits the owner of the pet to collect the waste in any appropriate collection device such as a glove, plastic bag or the like, and to be able to insert the collected waste into the container to be transported until a permanent waste container can be located so that the animal waste may be properly disposed of.
Furthermore, it is deemed important that the portable container be adaptable so that it is attachable to any format of pet animal leash regardless of the material from which the leash is composed. This would include leather leashes, corded leashes, retractable leashes, chain leashes, and any other presently available pet leash. Hence, it is deemed desirable to provide a container having a clamping system and a universal clamp such that the container may be mounted to any pet animal leash.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a portable container including a clamping assembly which permits the container to be clamped to a pet animal leash for the purpose of carrying and transporting animal waste.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable container including a clamping system for clamping to an animal leash, wherein the clamping system is provided with a clip designed to be universally adaptable and attachable to any format of pet animal leash. This would include animal leashes made of leather, cloth, cords, chains, or the like.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a container for containing and transporting animal waste wherein the container is made of an easily cleanable material such that it may be cleaned and re-used for long periods of time. In this connection, the preferred embodiment of the device includes a container which is carried by a container carrier system with the container being removable from the container carrier for ease of disposal of the animal waste therein, as well as for cleaning purposes.
Further features of the invention will be understood by reference to the drawing and description set forth hereinbelow.
The present invention relates to a portable container for carrying animal waste and permitting the owner to transport the same once the animal waste is collected until the owner can locate a proper waste container for the proper disposition of animal waste. The container is designed to include a container carrying system which incorporates a universal clamp to permit the container carrier to be clamped to any format of pet animal leash whether the same be made of leather, cords, chains, or even if the same is a retractable type of pet leash. The container is ideally and preferably designed to be removable from the container carrier in order to empty the animal waste therefrom, and also to permit the owner to clean the same periodically for reuse. The container carrier is designed to easily and efficiently clamp to any pet leash, and to be easily removable there from such that it may be removed from the pet animal leash when the device is not intended to be used. Hence, there is no requirement that the container carrier system be permanently affixed to the leash which would therefore reduce its usability by the consumer. In other words, once the consumer has purchased a particular type of pet leash, the portable container system of the present invention is adapted to be used with such leash thereby eliminating the necessity of the owner purchasing a separate leash and pouch arrangement heretofore suggested by the art.
Further features of the invention will best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings set forth below.